Poker Pro Dan Smith Raises $1.7 Million for Charity

Dan Smith, with the assistance of 134 others, has raised $1.7 million in his 2016 charity drive.

Smith said he would match the donations up to $175,000 to the following charities: 350.org, Against Malaria Foundation, Give Directly, Just City, Liberation Prison Yoga, Lineage Project, MAPS (Zendo), Massachusetts Bail Fund, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), and GiveWell.

Those who wanted to give had to email a copy of their donation receipt to Smith, who would then match it.

An anonymous donor said that if the drive hit $175,000, he would match an additional $125,000 to 350.org, Against Malaria and Give Directly.

The drive was modified at $600,000 to provide donations to the Against Malaria Foundation, Give Directly and the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), due to a donation from DFS sensation Martin Crowley, who matched the challenge with $200,000 in addition to the $325,000 he already matched 1:1.

“Awareness is the first step towards transformation,” said Crowley in a blog post on RotoGrinders. “Though I’d love to see each member of the DFS community step up and give, I’m grateful and humbled you’ve read this far. You don’t need to donate six figures to make a difference – in fact, simply acknowledging the need is a big step for many of us. So what can you do?”

Crowley’s brother, Tom, known as ChipolteAddict in the DFS world, donated $500,000 when the drive hit $1 million in donations.

“The limited details I know of their story are amazing: two guys who plan on making a huge difference in the world by doing the thing they are the best at: fantasy sports,” Smith wrote on his blog about the Crowley brothers. “I can’t say enough great things about these two guys who really epitomize the effective altruism movement.”

Smith wrote out on his blog what exactly he thought about each place he wanted to provide donations to and what he wanted the money to go toward. He said that he would be interested in running projects for others who don’t want to take the time to run a drive, given the right project.

IF YOU CONVINCE SOMEONE ELSE TO DONATE TO A CAUSE YOU BELIEVE IN, THAT CAN MAKE A VERY REAL DIFFERENCE.

He said he didn’t understand why there was a social stigma to donating publicly, that people should focus on the results.

“If you convince someone else to donate to a cause you believe in, that can make a very real difference. That seems much more relevant to me,” he said. “Logically, it seems clear to me that being public about donating encourages others to donate.”

Prior to this drive, Dan Colman and Smith organized a drive, but this year, Smith wanted to do the same thing on a larger scale, with a larger match to accompany the donations.

According to Smith’s blog, he has received emails from others starting their own drives and was willing to provide advice or assistance if needed.